Sunday, November 13, 2011

The Autumn Giraffe, among others...

Autumn days at Shikoku have been super pleasant... 
Cool, dry, and simply heavenly to be outdoors...


Took a shot of our potager today...
The marigolds are still blooming, as are the zinnias...


This dwarf of a flower is called 'wild chrysamthemum' (野菊)in Japanese... 
They grow so well in our garden, without any attention from us...



The Japanese folks call this flower 'Hototogizu' (ホトトギス), which is the name of a bird belonging to the cuckoo family... Apparently, the spots of this lily-family flower is similar to the spots on the chest of the bird...

Think this is called Larkdaisy or Porcupine flower.
The Japanese name is Murasaki Rushan (ムラサキルーシャン) or Ringo Azami(リンゴアザミ)...
Leaves emit apple-like smell when rubbed...


This chrysanthemum is endemic to the island of Honshu in Japan... 
It's scientific name is Chrysanthemum pacificum Nakai but I prefer the common name Isogiku (イソギク) meaning, Rocky Shore Chrysanthemum...

 

We enjoy looking at this wild flower in our morning walks... 
Took back home a specimen of this 'Aki no kirin so' (秋の麒麟草), literally, Autumn Giraffe flower...

Am linking this post to GBBD, which is hosted by May Dreams Gardens...

20 comments:

  1. Anonymous11/15/2011

    The photo and the name of the "Autumn Giraffe" are quite spectacular, as are the other flowers! Beauty captured! Your potager looks quite lovely from that angle!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your potager is beautiful. I love the top pictures of marigolds, zinnias and asters( my favorites since they attract many butterflies and bees). I just found your blog and find it interesting some of you flowers, I have never seen. They are very pretty, can you start them in our zone 5 with seeds or cutting?I always enjoy learning from others:-) robbie

    ReplyDelete
  3. aloha,

    this is my first visit to your garden, thanks for the tour :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Inspiring to see what persists in your fall garden. Marigolds and chrysanthemums are just beautiful. Your common names for flowers are poetic.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's lovely collection of wild flowers!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You have a wonderful potager! Feels like a place in Cameron Highlands ;-) I like all those pretty little flowers especially the yellow ones. Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful photos and blooms going on for you.
    Cher Sunray Gardens

    ReplyDelete
  8. Theanne... Thank you... I enjoy looking at the potager from that angle too...

    Robbie Palm... thank you for coming by my blog... I love asters very much too... I am actually not very familiar with the US zoning system but I think we are at a zone that is warmer than zone 5... still I imagine it should be possible to grow the flowers at your zone 5 place....

    noel... konichiwa to you and thank you for visiting my little blog...

    NellJean... thank you very much for your encouraging words... the Japanese people do have an interesting perspective when it comes to naming plants and flowers...

    Malar... some are wild, some not... but still, all lovely just the same... :)

    Stephanie... thank you, there is still a lot to do to improve the potager, and I am loving every minute of it.... as for Cameron Highlands, I understand that the locals there are saying that the place is getting warmer and warmer... no?

    Sunray Gardens... thank you for dropping by my blog...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely post...that purple aster is so great!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Flowers are like human, there are so many species.

    ReplyDelete
  11. You are so lucky to be able to view those lovely blooms. :)

    Really nice photos too. They made me smile and feel happy, Lrong. ^^

    ReplyDelete
  12. scottweberpdx... I enjoy the purple aster very much too...

    rainfield61... many, many species, for sure...

    lina... am very glad to hear that...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow, beautiful colors! I enjoyed all of your flower images especially the wild chrysamthemum and Hototogizu!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Diane AZ...thank you... the Hototogizu is one of my favorites...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lovely view of the house! When I was deciding whether I should take plant or animal biology. I decided to specialised more on animal since I thought I would be struggling to remember the plants scientific name in nihongo. I am grateful that you provide nihongo names too so I can learn more.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The plants in your garden are lovely to look at, their common names good to know, because it always tells a story about the local culture. Is the Autumn Giraffe the tallest one in your garden?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Zestaw kwiatów wspaniały. Chryzantemy z przedostatniego zdjęcia jeszcze nie widziałam, jest taka inna, śliczna. Pozdrawiam

    ReplyDelete
  18. Malay-Kadazan girl.. I wish I had taken up plant biology, but come to think of it, I was terrible with the biology subject...

    Autumn Belle... the
    Autumn Giraffe is quite short, actually... think the name came from the color of the flower and the fact that the flowers protrude upwards like a giraffe's neck would...

    Giga... thank you very much for coming by my blog...

    ReplyDelete
  19. But now, I think they will be really concerned about the wet weather. it's raining all the time here now.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Stephanie... hope you will not get too wet from the rain...

    ReplyDelete